1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disc recliner mechanism for automotive seating. More specifically, the present invention relates to a disc recliner mechanism which includes integral stops to limit the range of movement of a seat back relative to a seat cushion.
2. Description of Related Art
Many automotive seats have seat backs whose position, relative to a seat cushion, can be altered by the vehicle occupant for comfort positioning and/or to provide access to an interior of the vehicle. Disc recliner mechanisms are commonly employed to provide the relative movement between the seat back and the seat cushion and such disc recliner mechanisms often include a tooth plate and a guide plate which includes a set of pawls which can selectively interlock with the tooth plate to maintain the seat back in a desired position.
Typically, the tooth plate portion of the disc recliner mechanism is affixed to the seat back and the guide plate portion of the disc recliner mechanism is affixed to the seat cushion, although the mechanism can also be mounted in the opposite sense.
While such disc recliner mechanisms are well known and are widely employed, they do suffer from disadvantages. In particular, it is generally desired to provide travel stops in the disc recliner mechanism which limit the range of movement of the seat back. For example, it may be desired to limit the range of forward movement of the seat back to prevent the seat back from contacting a dashboard of the vehicle. Similarly, it may be desired to limit the range of backward movement of the seat back to prevent undesired intrusion of the seat back into a rear seating space of the vehicle.
It is known to provide travel stops in disc recliner mechanisms to limit the range of movement of the seat back but, to date, the provision of these travel stops has necessitated expensive tooling and/or complex manufacturing processes to produce the disc recliner mechanism.